You love your pet, and your pet loves you. Still, you both want your freedom from the relentless routine of meeting at the door. Your dog wants the freedom to come in and out without long wait times and begging and uncertainty. And, you want freedom from serving as the door attendant for your dog. You’ve come to terms with all of the above, and you have wisely already installed a dog door. The next step would be to make it more appealing. Below are some creative dog door ideas to help you upgrade it to a worthy asset to your home’s aesthetic appeal!
7 Ways to Decorate Your Dog Door
There are two camps of design thought on dog door aesthetics. 1) One envisions simply camouflaging the door to conceal it as effectively as possible by making it blend into its surroundings. 2) The other camp’s general alternative aesthetic sensibility is all about celebrating the pet portal and showcasing it to your guests. Here are a few ideas for keeping your dog door hidden entirely or subtly blending it into the surrounding decor, followed by ideas for making your pet entry pop and really stand out as a dazzling doggie door:
- Paint It the Same Color as the Surroundings
- Hide It in Place Or Move It Out of Sight
- Cover It Up or Upgrade It
- Create a Grand Entryway
- Let It Be a Doggie Haven
- Give Your Older Dog an Easy Access Ramp or Porch
- Mimic the People Door
Paint It the Same Color as the Surroundings
You may decide that it’s best just to try to make the hole you cut in your house for your dog less visible. That’s reasoning certainly would make sense to any decorating critic. The simplest approach to make your pet door less obvious is just to paint over it — frame, door flap, rubber seal strip, screws, and all — to match the door or surrounding wall in which it’s installed. Consult with the rep who is responsible for paint mixing at your local home improvement store for guidance on what type of paint will bond best with your dog door construction materials.
Hide It in Place Or Move It Out of Sight
Find an interior/exterior wall ideal for a pet door in a spot that is not visible to guests and neighbors; simply relocate your pet door to that area, and then patch the hole in the wall left behind. Problem solved. If that’s not a good option for you, consider making the door disappear in place. No magic skills are necessary for this. You might just choose to plant a few evergreen shrubs or other natural covers a few feet in front of the pet door to hide the exterior side. You may even attach a doghouse to your house and let the dog door serve as a pass-through. The doghouse conceals the opening into your home, and it gives your dog a fun option as a napping space.
Cover It Up or Upgrade It
Have a custom cover built for your pet door that looks like part of your home’s construction. A dog door cover that matches your windows and doors or other construction design features provides a finished look that gives the pet door a quality appearance worthy of a fine home. You can add a dog door cover with a small slide bolt lock for security on the interior side of larger dog doors. Or, you can have a dog door for sliding glass doors installed in your patio or deck door for a sleek, attractive, ultra-modern upgrade over the traditional doggie door. Imagine that — a dog door that already looks great when you install it!
Create a Grand Entryway
If you incline to make the most of your dog door decorating opportunity, the possibilities are endless. You can decorate your dog door in any style and to any degree of extravagance that your time and funds permit. You can customize it to the extent that it becomes a design focal point for the interior or exterior of your home. That’s right. Your dog can have it all when it comes to the doggie door design. You just need to put in the DIY effort or hire out the project to a home improvement expert who will fulfill your vision for the aesthetic potential of your dog door. You can build a custom walkway, doggie welcome mat, side lamp lighting, mini-shrubs, flower beds, the works!
Let It Be a Doggie Haven
What could be more adorable than watching your dog frolic in a deluxe outdoor play space? There are likely to be certain times when it’s just better to restrict your dog to a safe space vs. running entirely free outdoors? A highly functional and delightful option is creating a beautifully fenced area outside the dog door, with a gate that can be opened and closed. Make sure it has healthy comfy grass for rolling around. Add some favorite toys, and an awning for shade, even a kiddie pool! It’s a veritable doggie oasis, free from unwanted access by errant neighborhood dogs, just your pet’s very own sanctuary.
Give Your Older Dog an Easy Access Ramp or Porch
Having your pet door easily visible can be very convenient for your pet. For smaller pets, adding a raised walkway or little wood porch/deck leading into the pet door allows your dog to step inside the pet door easily. This works well to make getting in and out easier on your older dog, even if you prefer to have the door raised above ground level to block blowing leaves, dirt, from entering through the dog door. Add an awning over the raised doggie deck, and you’ve created a comfortable spot for your dog to relax outdoors while staying as close as possible to home.
Mimic the People Door
Why not duplicate your home’s back entry door if the dog door is at the back of your house. Or, even mimic the main entry door, if the dog door is on the front or side of your home, to add some charm and whimsy to your pet door. Go all the way, with an identical mailbox slot, and gold doorknob, street number, everything it takes to replicate the big door to your home. Way to commit! You’ve made your dog the envy of his/her peers and created a fun conversation piece for neighbors and guests.
Dog House Door Applications
You can easily apply some of the above dog door decoration ideas to develop creative dog door solutions for your dog house too. Add a dog door with the Endura Flap to your dog house to provide an energy-efficient solution for optimizing comfort for your dog all year-’round, and while you’re at it, make it look fantastic by adapting any of the above aesthetic concepts for your home to use them as dog house door ideas to dress up your dog house entry door.
Pet Door Products, Salt Lake City, Utah
We manufacture energy-efficient dog doors built directly into your home’s sliding glass door. This state-of-the-art pet door engineering transforms the appearance and functionality of your pet’s access. The weather-tight seal, door glass, and vinyl frame make these high-quality home improvement products exceptionally energy efficient. Value-added sliding security panel enables you to manage your pet’s access as preferred. Pet Door Products provides a 15-year product warranty. Choose DIY or our professional dog door installation service.
Call Pet Door Products, Salt Lake City UT, at (801) 973-8000, or contact us online for information about the world’s most advanced pet door for your home.
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